Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 35 Summer Vibes

Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 35

Summer Vibes 

In my blogs I sometimes refer to my childhood in Germany as I have a lot of fond memories, especially with my family and in every season there were different celebrations.

Summer is the season of my birthday and Ms.Chinatsu’s as well and she was lucky that her special day happened to be on the last day of school.

Happy Birthday, dear Chinatsu, we were so excited to celebrate with you !

The end of the school year in Germany is also in summer and I remember that the last week(s) of school were very laid back with movies, ice cream, excursions and some pool parties.

So having really been busy last week, we implemented some different summer fun activities, starting on Monday with a visit to the nearby play centre. 

On the way there the Pre-Kindergarten children once more practiced the emergency drill routine and when arrived, couldn’t wait to use the nice wooden toys, the various vehicles, airplanes, climbing structures and last not least the tunnels and two slides that lead you straight into the huge ball bath.

The children listened attentively to the rules being explained and then just had lots and lots of fun.

Using their bodies so much you would think they got exhausted, but they were very chirpy, singing on the way back to school.

On Tuesday we had a pool party with all of EY and the Pre-Kindergarten very much enjoyed splashing and jumping in the pools! The elephant watering can and colour balls were popular tools to sprinkle water around and the children kindly shared them with their friends. 

Finally, on the last day of school, on Wednesday, the children played with all of their favourite toys including legos, puzzles, dolls and cars. They also attended the school assembly in the MPR where we proudly witnessed the graduation ceremony of one of our students, but sadly had to say farewell to some friends and teachers leaving.

Ms.Marie had visited the class last week and now Ms.Maya came by to bid goodbye. Ms.Maya had often helped in the Pre-Kindergarten throughout the year and she looked after the children very well. Vielen herzlichen Dank, liebe Maya, we will miss you very much! All the best and good luck in Germany !

Before I come to my final greetings, I would like to post the pictures of the individual Pre-Kindergarten SLC’s as promised in my last blog. The children have grown so much this school year, physically and mentally and they learnt a lot of new things and showed improvement on others. 

They were so proud to show their newfound knowledge and it was lovely to see al the parents attend. Thank you all so much for taking the time to witness these important milestones of your child !

So, this was it, the end of the school year.

People who have known me over the time, know that I get very sentimental when I have to say goodbye.

Luckily the children will just go next door and some will stay with me for a second year.

The school year 2022/23 has been an extraordinary one for me. It started actually with my absence as I had broken my shoulder at the end of last school year and was not allowed in the classroom due to the injury needing to heal properly and the risk involved working with small children. I faithfully sent my daily lesson plans which were implemented by Ms.Chinatsu and Mr.Lubin to whom both I am very grateful. 

Nice team work !

When I got finally back into the classroom, the Pre-Kindergarten class went on a roll, having a new child starting almost weekly. Many friends came from the Playgroup, so it was lovely to have them all together.

Well, this school year we had 15 children attend, which is a record and we had 7 more trial children, most of whom will join either Pre-KG or K1 next school year.

The school year was full of art projects which I love and full of school events which brought the school community together each time.

All of the DSKI school events are supported by our PTA and this is the moment I would like to thank Ms.Ai Tsujie and Ms.Marie Vogel for their continuous commitment to the Pre-Kindergarten and the DSKI program in general. Vielen Dank and Merci beaucoup, you are truly amazing.

Last not least I would like to thank all of the Pre-Kindergarten parents for their unwavering support of the Pre-Kindergarten. 

I am truly grateful for all your engagement and love. Your children will learn from you and be ambassadors of kindness, just what we need in this world.

I will be cherishing the fantastic momentos (and moments) you gave me and wish you all a wonderful, relaxing, fun, exciting summer. 

Vielen herzlichen Dank an euch alle, ich weiss die Unterstützung und eure Herzlichkeit sehr zu schätzen. 

Einen tollen Sommer…ich bin ein Sommerkind !

Ich bin ein Sommerkind

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher

Playgroup / EY GFL

Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 34 Wrap up

Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 34

Wrap up 

In the last full week before the summer holidays, the Pre-Kindergarten revised all the 3 units they had learned about in this school year: “Colours and Shapes” (How we express ourselves), “Animals and Food” (How the world works) and “Body and Family” (Who we are).

We started the week with an extensive discovery walk, covering all our subjects, first looking at the colourful flowers and the cute dogs at the Sheraton Kindergarten, then checking out the food options at the Udon restaurant and the nearby cafe and finally having a run and a good view from the fashion market balcony onto our school.

Throughout the week, the children reviewed the vocabulary for food and the animals in English and in German and they did the Sky, Land, Sea sorting activity which is very popular and shows how much the children already know.

We also spoke about the body parts again and the Pre-Kindergarten children adore the German song about washing their body and then having no towel to dry off. 

What do you do ? You shake everything ! 

Hände waschen

We then decided to cool ourselves down a little on a hot day.

The little turtle and crab pools were set up, so the children could refresh their feet in the water and some splashing exercises followed. The children also used some colourful shape containers (yes, round and square, orange and green etc.) to drizzle water on their legs.

Well, it was a hot day and the water play was so much fun that soon the whole body was in the water and the children squeaked with delight. 

I have a lot of memories with a little pool in our garden in Germany and the balmy days of summer are much more fun this way. 

Ms.Marie came by to say hello and bring us the freshly printed copies of the DSKI yearbook which she had worked so hard on. Thank you so much, Ms.Marie and good luck in Germany! We will miss you !

On Wednesday evening there were the SLCs (Student Led Conferences) at DSKI and for K1 and K2. 

I was on site to showcase all the exciting things the older children have learnt in their German lessons. The parents were really surprised and I am so much looking forward to teaching my present class more German after the summer holidays. They already can say quite a lot of words, especialy the colours like rot, blau, lila and many more, animals like Katze, Hund, Ente etc. und of course super und lecker! 

The Pre-Kindergarten children held their own SLC’s individually with Ms.Anita during the last two weeks. Thank you to all the parents for coming and marvelling at your children’s growth and knowledge, it is truly amazing!  I will post the photos in my next week’s blog, the last one in this school year. 

On Thursday we had the chance to see an enchanting performance by our grades 3 and 4, an adaption of Shakespeare’s play “A Midsommer Night’s Dream”.

It was a wonderful opportunity for the school community to get together and share their learning and joy. The Pre-Kindergarten children watched fascinated what was happening on the stage….a king, a queen, rappers, fairies and dancers, what more could they ask for. 

Thank you, grade 3 and 4 for a lovely time !

After letting their beautifully crafted butterflies fly, the children enjoyed printing with water on Friday, which was a good activity to look at the shapes again and beat the heat. 

Before going home the children put a message for their fathers on the little jumping look-alike dolls they had made and we hope all the daddies enjoy playing with them with their children.

Happy Father’s Day ! Alles Gute zum Vatertag !

Have a joyful weekend !

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher

Playgroup / EY GFL